Psychotic Episode 6: Cleansing Flame Pt 2
by Glod
Summary: A fiery disaster planetside sends Jay down to do the hero thing...
1. Shields

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Justice League/ JLU

**Psychotic**

**Shields**

Superman glared around the watchtower control room.

"You left _that girl_ here by herself?" Wonder Woman repeated for maybe the fourth time in five minutes. "So where is she?"

Flash shrugged sheepishly. "She seemed in control. And you have to admit, she was right about my being a lot of help in that situation."

"Nevertheless, the fact remains that she is not here." Superman growled. "Meaning not only did you leave the watchtower under the supervision of a young new member on probation, you left it under the supervision of a young new _irresponsible_ member."

"Uh… maybe she left a note?" Flash suggested desperately, then zipped up from the transporter deck to the main console before Wonder Woman or Superman could scoff at the idea.

When he got up to the console deck, he just stopped and stared.

"No note?" Wonder Woman asked rather maliciously, glorying in the knowledge that she'd been right not to trust the girl in the first place. Oh, but wasn't she going to make Batman eat his words? The prospect was delicious.

"You guys better come see this." Flash answered, still staring at the screen. Superman and Wonder Woman flew up behind Flash and took in the scene that met their eyes.

A government convoy just to the west of where they'd just been putting out the forest fire; it was under attack by a heavily armed group. As they watched, Psychotic flew out over the centre truck of the convoy, and flattened herself on its roof. Then the screen flashed white.

When the picture returned, there was only a smoking hole where the three trucks had previously been. Psychotic was nowhere to be seen. A large group of very confused and angry soldiers were left standing around a hole, and suddenly no longer under attack. It took them a minute to organize themselves into parties and move out in search of their ambushers and their trucks.

Superman, Wonder Woman and Flash looked at each other in amazement.

"Um…" Flash started, then ground to a halt, his mind a blank.

"Perhaps we should get down there?" Wonder Woman suggested. Superman nodded, and started entering co-ordinates for the transporters. He was barely halfway through when the comm. links buzzed.

"Watchtower," Superman answered authoritatively.

"This is Batman." Batman's dark, disturbing voice filled the control room. "Three military trucks have just materialized in Gotham City centre. I'm on my way now. Is someone up there asleep on the job, because I can't think of any other way that Flash missed this."

"They've just been teleported there by a hostile group who attacked the convoy those trucks were in." Superman informed Batman. "That's about all we know. Apparently Psychotic is with them."

"Psychotic?" Batman's tone was incredulous. "What is Psychotic doing with them?"

"I have no idea. We'll be in Gotham in minutes."

Superman cut the link, and re-entered co-ordinates. "Come on. It looks like we have another job to do."

---

Jay shook her head, trying to get the sick feeling of disorientation out. She raised her head a little and looked around. It seemed they were in the middle of a large city, though she had no idea which one. The only city she'd ever been in was Central City, and this place was way too dark and dirty to be there. She was having a bit of trouble focusing on any details in the gloom, but she could hear the rumble of the crowd approaching to see what was happening.

Jay pushed herself up to her hands and knees, and took another look from her new, elevated position. It seemed the trucks had been dumped in a city square, surrounded by tall, gothic buildings that towered all around. Around the edges of the square, on the pedestrian walks, people were gathered, staring in curiosity. The three trucks looked like they'd been dropped rather haphazardly; miraculously they were all still upright.

Psychotic did a quick scan with magic to check for any breaches in the truck seals. More luck- there were none.

_Who's that? _The question rang through Jay's mind as her vision was forcibly dragged to a crouching figure under the first truck. A man, crouched down trying to stay out of view. His most obvious feature was a glowing green skull.

_Atomic Skull? What on Earth is going on here? _

All three girls currently occupying Jay's skull had mirrored feelings of confusion. Still, it was the first obvious enemy Jay had come across. It would probably be a good idea to apprehend the villain.

Before she could, he let out a massive radioactive beam, sweeping across all three trucks and in one move breaking through seals and triggering a nuclear fission chain reaction in the unstable radioactive material contained inside them.

Psychotic acted immediately. In less time than it took to register what Atomic Skull was doing she had a shield up around all three trucks. But Jay hadn't had time to get off the middle truck. Her shield went up, with her on the inside.

Scenarios of her flesh burnt to a crisp by intense radiation flashed through her mind, before she registered the smaller shield protecting her body.

_Wow._

_Yeah, wow. Psychotic… how are you doing this?_

Psychotic, realizing the impossibility of moving her body out of the danger zone had nevertheless put up a powerful magical shield to contain the nuclear explosion within a five meter zone all around the trucks, including the ground below them. In the interests of self preservation, she had also thrown up an equally strong but smaller shield around her body, thus preventing any fatal radiation from getting her.

This was taking all the concentration and energy she had to spare. This much magic was hard even for her. To all intents and purposes, she was out of any further intra-cranial discussion.

_Uh, problem. _Jay's other self took a quick look around, ignoring the strain of the magic on their body.

_What, bigger than the one we've already got?_ Jay answered herself.

_Part of the one we've already got. We've got a shield up around what is essentially a nuclear explosion, right?_

_Your point?_

_What do we do now? _

_Hope like hell that Psychotic can keep this up indefinitely. _


	2. Success

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Justice League/ JLU.

**Psychotic**

**Success**

The sweat dripped off Psychotic's nose and down her back. Her muscles were beginning to cramp with the strain of channeling this much magic. She concentrated on maintaining the two shields, one as important as the other. The large outer shield necessary to keep the radiation away from the probable millions that lived in this city, the inner shield necessary to keep her alive so she could maintain the outer shield. Failure wasn't an option. Failure meant a disaster too devastating to comprehend. She couldn't even spare a thought to what the Jay's were thinking. She just focused on fueling those shields and keeping them up.

Jay experimentally wiggled a finger. It wiggled. Good, she still had control on the body. Obviously keeping the shields up took everything Psychotic had, leaving control of the body to the other two. Handy thing, that. Psychotic's abandonment of the body meant she wasn't feeling so much as a mild throb, while Jay had to grit her teeth against the excruciating pain the magic was putting them through. Oh just wait till they got out of this. She was going to _force_ Psychotic to take over for a few hours just so she could suffer through some of this pain.

_Not really our primary concern right now._

Jay agreed, and glanced around with her eyes, only. Moving her head just made it hurt more. Someone from the Justice League had to have discovered this by now… yes, there was Batman! And- yes! Superman, Wonder Woman and Flash! Excellent! Surely they'd think of something.

Superman flew up in front of where Psychotic's shield ended. He positioned himself as close as he could to the shield.

"What happened?" He asked.

Jay sighed with relief over something she hadn't known she'd been worried about. Psychotic's shield was strong, and it may have not only blocked in radiation, but also blocked out sound. Luckily, this didn't seem to be a problem. The trick now was talking back.

"Atomic Skull." Jay ground out between teeth she could barely unclench enough to speak. Pain ripped through her jaw as she spoke, the strain of the magic amplified by the jaw movement required to talk. "Nuclear explosion." She growled, hoping like hell Superman could hear, and understand the disjointed words. "Shielding. Not for long."

A expression of worry passed fleetingly over Superman's face before he flew back and studied the shield. He inched closer.

"Is this shield solid?" He asked.

Jay was stumped. Solid? What did he mean by solid?

Some of her confusion must have made her eyebrow twitch, or Superman just carried on thinking out loud, because fortunately, he elaborated. "Could I pick the whole thing up, with everything inside?"

_Um. Could he pick the whole thing up with everything inside?_

_I have no idea. The only person who knows is Psychotic. And I really don't think she's in a position to answer. _

"Dunno." Jay ground out, ignoring the intensifying ache in her jaw. "Try. Hurry."

They could both feel Psychotic weakening. Even she, with her Herculean control and strength with magic could only keep this up for so long.

Superman flew back to Batman and consulted. They seemed to reach some sort of decision. Batman raised a hand to his ear, activating the comm. links, contacting someone. Superman flew towards her. Flash sped off, and began herding the crowd back, away from the scene. Wonder Woman did the same on the other side of the square.

"I'm going to try picking this up. Try to make this shield solid, so everything comes up with it. The only safe thing to do with it is take the lot out to space, so I'm going to fly us up there. Green Lantern will meet us as soon as he can- between us we'll figure out a way to get you safely out." Superman shot Jay a look of concern. "Do you think you can hold out that long?"

Jay tried to decide what would hurt less- a nod or answering 'yes'. Laying her bets on the nod, she inclined her head minutely. Daggers of pain shot down her neck and up behind her eyes, but it satisfied Superman. He flew down to the ground, where he pressed against the shield. It held, apparently solid. With a grunt of effort, he set his hands against the shield and lifted.

Everything shifted, throwing Jay off balance. Instinctively she caught herself, adjusting her position. Lightning snapped through every nerve ending; a groan escaped through her locked jaw. But Superman had a good hold now and was beginning to rise, taking the trucks, Jay, and a hefty chunk of the city square with him.

"I'm going to speed up!" Superman warned, seconds before he pushed off, accelerating upwards into the atmosphere. Jay just kept her attention on staying still, monitoring Psychotic to make sure she was alright.

_Ok, we're pretty far up already. Not much longer now._

Jay's other self was the only one in a position to give encouraging words. Currently controlling neither the magic nor the body, she took over most of the thinking.

_There's Green Lantern. He'll catch up to us a bit higher up, I'm sure. He can take over the shield when he does…_

_Another few minutes- I think we're going through- Wow. Look at that Jay. You can't miss this! Space, from the outside! Come on Jay, take a look!_

Jay groaned at the apparent cruelty, but forced her head up. The sight that met her eyes made the pain recede slightly. The stars, space, the sun. The universe, and only two thin lilac shields between her and it. It was beautiful, a wholly different feeling from looking at it from the confines of the watchtower.

The shields flickered.

_Psychotic?_ Jay's attention was focused inward once more. They both concentrated on Psychotic.

_She doesn't look so good…_

Psychotic was nothing more than a grim ball of determination at their very core, but determination wasn't enough to keep her going. It was entirely possible for one of them to black out while the other two remained conscious, but the Jay's had no hope of keeping up the level of magic required to keep the shields active. Psychotic would barely last another minute, and out here in space, sound technically couldn't travel through to Superman. All Jay could do was pray.

It seemed this time it was going to be enough. Green Lantern caught up with them, and without asking about anything used his ring to set up a shield immediately surrounding Psychotic's. He then followed Psychotic's example and settled a shield around her too, using the shining green link to pull her little bubble out of the main shield and off on its own in space.

As soon as Jay was out, Green Lantern launched trucks and all towards the sun at high speeds where they would be pulled in by the solar gravity and harmlessly integrate into the Sun's own radioactivity.

Seeing this, Psychotic released her shields, and collapsed into unconsciousness.

---

Jay sighed with relief as the worst of the pain left with the magic. Every muscle in her body still ached abominably, but at least it was just an ache, instead of sharp pain with every twitch. Her legs didn't even have the strength to hold her up, so she just sat bonelessly in the sphere Green Lantern had around her. He expanded it slightly, and joiner her in it, kneeling down to make sure she was alright.

"Are you hurt?" He asked, concern lacing his voice.

Jay just shook her head, and attempted to smile.

Green Lantern still looked worried, but he seemed satisfied. He stood, and propelled them towards the Watchtower, which wasn't too far from where they were, and a lot closer than going back to Earth. Superman flew alongside them.

"That was a very brave thing you did." Green Lantern announced, a minute later and rather out of the blue.

"Thanks," croaked Jay, it being about all she could manage.

"Just wanted you to know." Green Lantern added gruffly. He didn't say anything more till they got to the Watchtower. By then, exhaustion had got the better of her, and Jay was fast asleep.


	3. Member

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Justice League/ JLU

**Psychotic**

**Member**

Consciousness dragged at Jay, forcing her to rise out of the deep sleep she'd been blissfully embraced in. The last thing she wanted to do was wake up- every bone in her body ached, to say nothing of the muscles. Even the thought of blinking was excruciating.

_Fine, stay asleep! But could you please roll over off your nose so that we can at least breathe? _

Jay considered the pros and cons of such an action. On the plus side, she'd be able to breathe. On the negative side, the reason she was currently positioned lying on her front with one leg half bent and an arm curled under her body was that for some odd reason this was the most comfortable position she could find. She didn't usually sleep quite so messily, but right now this was the only way to stretch the bits that wanted to stretch and curl the bits that wanted to curl. That she looked like a crab run over by a bus was irrelevant.

And, rolling over would _hurt_.

_I don't care. If I don't get a fresh breath of air in the next minute, you will really find out what pain means! _

_Just don't use the nose! Why can't you just not use the nose? _

_ROLL OVER. _

It seemed Jay wasn't going to get a good reason for this order, or any peace until she complied. Letting out a huge groan she pushed off with the arm curled under her, raising her body right off the bed and flipping herself around.

And flipped herself straight off the ridiculously thin infirmary bed.

When the pain subsided enough for her to even consider twitching, she carefully opened her eyes, and blinked slowly to dislodge some of the tears. As her vision cleared, she looked up into the concerned face of the Flash as he leaned over. He may have been talking to her, but the pounding of her heartbeat in her ears was drowning out all sound. His mask was creased into a frown of worry and the craziest thought went through Jay's pain clouded head.

_He has a really nice mouth._

_I have told you and I have told you that the guy is hot. NOW you're listening to me? _

_Never been this close before…_

_Hey! Snap out of it! This is not the time! _

The sheer surprise of having her other self being the sensible one for a change brought Jay back to reality with a crash. She opened her mouth. Flash leaned forward to hear better.

"Owww." She groaned with all the intelligence of a person who's just flipped themselves off a bed.

"Y'know, most people would just climb out of bed." Flash quipped, leaning back on his heels in relief at hearing her speak. A groan of pain had to mean she was at least conscious, aware and likely to be able to get up.

Jay barely suppressed a sigh of irritation. Great. Now she was on the floor _and_ being subjected to a horribly misplaced sense of humour. On the plus side, she didn't even have the energy to work up any sort of anger, hurt or whatever.

_Right, so, in order to cure you of your irrational hatred of the Flash we just need to keep you constantly exhausted and in pain? Piece of cake. _

Jay ignored the voices in her head. As per usual.

"A little help?" She ground out at Flash, hating that she had to ask for it, but aware that there was no way she was getting upright on her own.

"Sure!" Flash replied cheerily, zipping round her then crouching down to scoop her up in his arms. He straightened with no sign of effort, and gently replaced her on the bed. Jay didn't even have time to object.

"Uh… not what I meant." Jay felt obliged to point out while her other self went into swoons of delight in the back of her mind. Jay found herself wishing for Psychotic's voice so that she'd at least have back up in telling her other self to shut up!

_Yeah, right! She'd be swooning too! Hoo boy, did you see how easily he picked us up? I love a strong man! _

_Shut up shut up shut up. He's a superhero. He HAS to be strong. _

Jay's other self did the mental equivalent of sticking her fingers in her ears and going 'lalalalala'.

"A 'thank you' would be nice!" Flash joked, giving her a mischievous wink and eliciting a whole new round of girlish squealing inside Jay's mind.

"Thank you." She grumbled, grudgingly.

Silence descended.

Flash kicked a foot restlessly, searching the room, apparently waiting for something.

Jay just stared at him, one eyebrow raised questioningly.

More silence.

"Well, then." Flash finally broke the silence. "I guess you'll need a little more rest! We're going to want you in the meeting room sometime tomorrow, someone will come let you know about it! See you around!"

With that rather cryptic message, Flash zipped out of the room.

"A few cylinders short of an engine, I think." Jay mumbled to herself.

_But so cute nevertheless! _

Ignoring herself, Jay went back to sleep.

---

It was a good thing they sent a message giving Jay fifteen minutes forewarning before the founding seven wanted her in front of them for the Great Telling Off. It woke her up again, which was a relief because the last thing she wanted was a lecture about punctuality as well as one about breaking rules, going off on her own and generally being hot-headed and irresponsible.

_At least Psychotic is still out cold. I don't see her taking this too quietly._

Jay grunted in agreement, as she shook her head in an attempt to wake herself up before reaching the imposing doors to the meeting room. Jay refused to hesitate, refused to act like she'd done something to be guilty about.

_We saved thousands of lives. We did the right thing. They'd be crazy not to see it that way! _Jay's other self remarked playfully, trying to mask the nervousness that was roiling through them both. Neither of them wanted to admit it, but to be kicked out of the Watchtower now when they'd come so far- it would crush them.

With barely a slow in her step, she used a little magic to push open the doors to the room ahead of herself and strode in like a queen entering her court.

---

"I'm telling you, she didn't so much as snap rudely at me." Flash protested to the other six superheroes arrayed in state around the circular table. "And I was there just staring at her for a good few minutes."

"Flash, you can't even stand still for 'a few minutes'." Shayera pointed out cynically. "Still every other time she's been that close to Flash she's gone crazy- it's got to be a good sign that she didn't this time, hasn't it?"

"She has been displaying high levels of control recently." J'onn added. "I took the liberty of searching her recent simulations. She is currently running Supergirl's training programs. And beating them."

There was a short pause as the meaning of this sunk in for everybody. To beat Supergirl's training programs after only a few untutored months?

"And she showed a good grasp of tactics, exemplary planning under difficult conditions and great reflexes." John added. "Not to mention her courage in going after those guys alone."

"Courage or hot-headed stupidity?" Superman asked, still not entirely convinced.

"It was the correct choice." J'onn defended Jay's decision. "There was nobody else available. She was justified in sending Flash to help with the fire, and correct in assuming that she was the only unoccupied person capable of dealing with the situation who could get there in time."

"She didn't do a single thing that you could complain about!" Flash interjected hotly. "She's trying real hard, and she's good. I think we should - "

"Yes Flash, we know what you think." Wonder Woman cut him off. "But can you guarantee that she's stable and going to stay that way?"

"Can anyone on the watchtower be considered entirely stable?" Batman asked. "Even you, Diana, have acted rashly in the past."

Wonder Woman glared, but conceded the point.

Superman rose and leaned forward on the table. "We've already decided!" Superman announced. He wished they hadn't had to give Jay fifteen minutes to wake up- it had given everybody an opportunity to just hash over the same arguments all over again. As if the same comments hadn't been going round in circles for the last hour! "She should be here any minute, and we're presenting a united front!"

With almost uncanny timing, the doors swung open and Jay strode in. She was dressed in her usual jeans and tank top, although today she'd made the effort to pick one of her nicer tops. For confidence? If so, it worked. She held herself like a monarch, head raised regally and stony determination in her honey brown eyes. It was neither the almost timid Jay they were used to, nor her bubbly alter ego. She was definitely not Psychotic. It was as if she'd distilled the essence of them all and presented a public image of invulnerability. Superman glanced quickly around the table and could tell the others were as impressed as he was.

She came to a halt a metre away from the table, and stood there defying them all to treat her as anything less than the hero she was.

Superman was at a loss for how to start. He took a deep breath, held the silence for a moment longer to give him time to think. In that moment he saw a slight flicker cross her face, a second's anxiety, and suddenly she was the lost young girl again. He found his words.

"What you did today," He began, noting her almost imperceptibly bracing herself. "It was very brave. You saved thousands of people, without a thought for your own safety. None of us could ask for any greater proof of your character." Superman smiled warmly. "We'd like to welcome you as a full member of the Justice League. Congratulations, Jay."


	4. Dress

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Justice League/ JLU

**Psychotic**

**Dress**

Jay was still floored. She was a full member of the Justice League? Psychotic, the crazy mall destroying, watchtower-crippling, untrustworthy, irresponsible, uncontrollable power- all that was a full member of the Justice League? She could go anywhere she wanted, do anything she wanted to do. She had rotations in the control room and her first night watch was in two weeks time. Who'd have ever thought?

It would have been so much nicer if her other self wasn't hung up on another trivial issue.

_Where does Wonder Woman get off suggesting we don't dress well? How do you like that, eh? How dare she just smile condescendingly down at us and say "You might want to think about getting an outfit"? What, does she think her colour blind get up is any better than what we wear? What is wrong with the way we dress? _

Jay's other self had been ranting pretty much non-stop since Wonder Woman had said the fateful "get an outfit" remark as they were leaving the meeting room. It was confusing the hell out of Psychotic who had only woken up a few hours ago. Between the sheer bewilderment of one Jay and the illogical rage of the other, Psychotic was at a bit of a loss for understanding. But since this was pretty much status quo for Psychotic and she was still feeling the aftereffects of their adventure, she was willing to wait patiently until someone explained things to her.

They were currently spread eagled on their bed, staring out at the stunning view of the stars seen outside their window. Working up the energy to move was beyond a being so preoccupied with such random thoughts.

_And where does she suppose we could find a costume, hmm? Is it just going to materialize out of thin air? Are we just supposed to magic it into existence?_

At this point Psychotic felt she could make a valid contribution. _That is a possibility._

_What? _Jay's other self snapped irritably. Jay just listened passively, shifting their body a little to get more comfortable.

_If you want to make a costume, _Psychotic explained patiently. It was the weirdest thing, having Psychotic be the most patient of the three of them. _Simply provide enough material and I can use magic to make it any shape, colour or cloth that you would like. _

Jay's other self perked up considerably at this. _Really? So, you could take the jeans we're wearing now and make them into, like… a dress? _

_Look down. _Psychotic's mildly superior voice was accompanied by a brief flare of magic. Jay obediently turned her eyes down… to see the most beautiful, shimmering lilac dress she had ever seen in her life! On her!

Jay's other self took over the body immediately and bounced right off the bed and over to their cupboard which sported a full length mirror on the door. Jay admired herself in the mirror, holding her body flirtingly, femininely. _This is brilliant! _

_Unfortunately not very practical._ Jay felt it necessary to point out. Her other self took this into consideration.

There was the feeling of a mental shrug from Psychotic's part of the brain and the dress shortened, the straps at the shoulder thickened, and a pair of chocolate brown kid leather thigh high boots replaced the long skirt of the dress. Jay's eyes nearly popped right out.

"Look at those boots!" Jay couldn't contain her excitement, and spoke out loud.

_Yes, but we're shimmering._ Jay couldn't help being sensible. She was, after all, the sensible self. _Shimmering hardly seems like the way to go if we're stalking someone or something. And this material is way too flimsy._

"And maybe some heels on the boots?" Jay mused.

_No heel. _Psychotic announced. _The boots stay, and they stay as they are. _

Both Jay's shrugged and concentrated on the rest of the outfit. The boots were perfect, truth to tell. They all loved them.

"Well, shall we stick with purple?" Jay asked.

_No. Too… girly._

Psychotic merely shrugged, mentally. Clearly, as long as she got the boots she didn't care much about the rest of the outfit.

_Blue maybe?_ Jay suggested hopefully.

_Clashes with the magic._ Psychotic's excuse was given to the intense amusement of the other Jay.

"Well, with the boots brown we can't do much in terms of colour. Maybe if they were black?" Jay suggested diplomatically.

There was a grumble, but the boots changed colour. Jay smiled triumphantly.

"Ooh I have the _best_ idea!" Jay announced. She sent a mental image bouncing across their mind. "Brilliant, isn't it?" She said, with a gleeful grin.

---

"I am really not comfortable with this." Jay mumbled as quietly as she could. She couldn't believe how little she was wearing.

_Look, does Wonder Woman cover her many attributes? I think not! And Black Canary, Zatanna, Huntress... what do they have in common? _

_They are female?_

_Psychotic, it was a rhetorical question. I was going to answer myself in a second._

_Well, hurry up then. _

_I'm getting there!_

Jay sighed as the bickering started up again, but at least she wasn't getting a lecture. She caught a view of herself against the star studded blackness of space in the window making up one whole side of the corridor. She barely suppressed a wince, but forced herself to take a second look. She looked ridiculous, cowering away as if trying to cover every exposed inch of herself. She'd been bullied into this costume and there was no getting out of it. The other Jay and Psychotic were adamant that this was how they were going to dress, come hell or high water. She'd better make the best of it.

She straightened her shoulders and raised her head. That's right, act like royalty. It was the only way to carry off this outfit. With a slightly more satisfied review in the window, Jay swallowed a last sigh and strode into the control room.

---

"What I don't understand is why launch such an attack on Gotham?" Wonder Woman asked Batman as they leaned over the console, analyzing the events of the last few days.

"The question is how they teleported those trucks all that distance." Batman replied. "There is no record of anyone with those powers."

"It could have been magic." Wonder Woman suggested.

"It has a different energy pattern to magic." Batman dismissed the suggestion absently. Wonder Woman glared down at his spiky eared head. Honestly, she'd been bending over this console for the last five minutes displaying her cleavage at its best and the irritating man hadn't once looked around! It was good that none of the men in the Justice League had crazy notions of female inferiority, but she wished they'd occasionally acknowledge her femininity.

It was the weirdest thing. She'd never been bothered about this kind of thing before she'd really gotten to know Batman. And Hera knew, she had no interest in having Superman or Flash notice her cleavage. Trust her to pick the hardest nut in the bunch.

She straightened up before she gave in to the urge to hit him round the head with her boot. A brisk wind alerted her to the presence of Flash in the vicinity.

"Hey Diana, how's it going?" Flash asked in his normal cheerful tone, only the exaggerated wagging of his eyebrows indicating that he meant more than just Justice League business. Wonder Woman had no idea why the entire Justice League felt the need to be in on her business.

"We were just discussing that forest fire and the attack on Gotham." Wonder Woman explained. "Have you found out anything useful?"

"It seems to me the best person to ask is Psychotic, seeing as she was the one there for most of it." Flash suggested with a shrug. Wonder Woman tilted her head as she thought that through.

"Good idea, Wally. I wonder why we didn't think of it." Diana wondered out loud.

"We?" Batman interjected. "You didn't. I already sent a message asking her to join us."

Diana clenched her teeth, shut her eyes and repeated what was becoming a mantra to her: _Do not kill Bruce. Do not kill Bruce. _

Behind them the automatic doors to the upper deck of the control room swished open. Flash and Wonder Woman twisted their heads round to see who it was.

Wonder Woman really hoped her jaw didn't drop quite as far as Wally's did. It was most unladylike.

Striding into the control room was Psychotic/Jay as they had never seen her before. She wore thigh high black boots that stopped a few inches above her knees. A short loose skirt swirled around her thighs in the most beautifully coloured material Diana had ever seen. It was black… in the way the night sky was black. It was a black full of so many purples, all of which teased at the edge of vision, there but not really there. Toned abs were left bare until a cropped cross-backed top covered her breasts and shoulders. Only a hint of cleavage showed above the relatively high neck line. Her hair was pulled back into a pony tail, with a few artistic tendrils left around her face. She looked stunning.

A movement caught the edge of Diana's eye, and she looked back around in time to see Batman swing round on his swiveling chair. One eyebrow shot up when he caught a good look at Jay.

_His eyebrow never quirked at me, the bloody pedophilic bastard! _Diana's mantra was quickly restarted in her head. Maybe she should talk to Jay about getting some of that material…

"Thank you for joining us." Batman said to Jay, in lieu of a welcome, dragging everyone back to the situation at hand. "Now if we could all concentrate?"


	5. Epiphany

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Justice League/ JLU

**Pyschotic**

**Epiphany**

Jay had to admit, even though she was absolutely mortified at the reaction she'd gotten from Wonder Woman, Flash and Batman, she was also secretly very pleased. A girl didn't get a reaction like that every day! It made her a little more comfortable about being so very nearly naked.

_We're not naked. For God's sake, we even have spanky pants on under the skirt! _

Very nearly naked, Jay repeated to herself. There was absolutely nothing covering her from her hips to her ribs, and the only reason her cleavage wasn't also on show was that she'd drawn the line at that. Cleavage or midriff, and her other self and Psychotic had agreed that the midriff was probably a better idea, and would make her far less likely to fall out of her top in the event of excessive exercise. Jay had just breathed a sigh of relief.

Having made it past the first inspection, Jay decided to stop thinking about the near-nakedness and concentrate on business. She strode up behind Batman's chair, keeping her distance but not far enough that she couldn't see the console with its still shots of the fire, the hole left after the trucks had been teleported and Gotham City with her shields protecting it. She squinted, looking for any further clues.

"Is there any further information you can add to what we've got?" Batman asked without looking around, waving one hand at another screen on which was a list of government information on the convoy.

"Not really." Jay answered after a quick scan of the information. "It was very well organised, and I never even saw any hint of whoever did the teleportation. Apart from the attackers, the only other person I saw was Atomic Skull. I think he was waiting in Gotham though. I would have noticed if he'd been with the trucks."

Batman nodded, and made a quick note.

_Did you know Flash can't take his eyes off of us? _

_Shut up shut up shut up._

"I've searched our archives, there is no record of anyone with those teleportation powers. We're dealing with someone new here." Batman told Jay.

"It definitely wasn't magic. Certainly a new form of energy, but I don't know what." Jay clarified. Batman nodded agreement.

_Jay is right. Flash is paying us untoward attention._

"There's definitely a military branch to the organization." Jay soldiered on, ignoring herself studiously. "A well armed military branch. Have you searched out people who could afford something like that?"

"There aren't that many who could, and would have a motive." Wonder Woman pointed out, with a nod of agreement from Batman.

_It's not 'untoward'! It's bloody brilliant! Man, I wish our neckline was a bit lower…_

"What are you assuming is the motive?" Jay asked, a little more loudly than necessary. A questioning look from Wonder Woman brought a blush to her face, but Jay ignored that too.

"Any number of terrorist groups would have a reason to attack Gotham." Batman replied. "It's a centre of commerce, its crime rate makes it high profile."

Jay considered this. It seemed a valid reason, but it didn't seem right. A nuclear attack on Gotham would have wiped out the city, but what would be the point? You'd just have a big radioactive hole and lots of dead people. There were easier ways to get the attention of the US government than attacking a heavily armed convoy and arranging a teleportation.

_What if they weren't attacking the city?_

"Then what were they attacking?" Jay spoke out loud, forgetting where she was now that she was caught up in solving her puzzle. Unconsciously she shared the body, her irises turning the tri-coloured pattern of Psychotic, the superhero. She registered the strange looks of the other three, but only on the periphery. Her attention focused on the computer screens.

_It would have been disastrous for the Justice League, to be unable to stop it. _

_Psychotic is right. What else was happening?_

Jay frowned at the computer, _wanting_ the screen to display the information she needed. Psychotic sent out a tendril of power and hit a series of controls. A screen lit up with a concise list of who'd been doing what on that night.

"Every member of the Justice League was occupied." Jay pointed out after a quick scan.

_And look at some of those 'disasters'. _

_Another out of control fire in Germany. _

_Flooding in Bangladesh. I think we can assume that is natural. _

_But not the satellite going off course in its orbit above China. How often does that happen?_

_The hijacked plane flying Sydney to Paris. _

_A string of bank robberies and heists. How likely is it to have that many on the same night?_

"So, they had a few really big disasters for the really powerful members, and a series of smaller problems for some of the lesser ones." Jay summed up her thoughts. Flash just looked confused and slightly weirded out, but Batman frowned at the lists.

"It's unlikely. To arrange that many events, perfectly timed?" Batman said incredulously.

"A series of groups, working together?" Wonder Woman suggested.

"What for?"

"To bring down the Justice League." Psychotic's multi-toned voice rang out with certainty.

"How would a nuclear attack on Gotham destroy the Justice League?" Wonder Woman asked.

"The public would lose all faith in us." Psychotic answered. "A nuclear explosion in Gotham is something the Justice League is supposed to prevent. But everyone was occupied. They didn't know about us. They can't have planned for it."

Batman considered this theory. "It's a possibility. Farfetched, but a possibility. I'll put the Question on it."

"Yeah, he'll find a great conspiracy if anyone can!" Flash scoffed, receiving a glare from Diana for his efforts.

"In the meantime, someone's probably very ticked off." Wonder Woman pointed out. "They might try something again."

"They probably already have a next step planned, but it'll take time for them to regroup. I think we have a little leeway. We'll find out as much as we can, and be as prepared as possible. I'll alert the rest of the League. Right now, that's the best we can do." Batman pushed away from the console, and stood. He turned his impassive stare on Psychotic. "Well done." He said cryptically. Diana nodded agreement.

"Uh, thanks." Jay answered, back to her normal self. Wonder Woman smiled before she and Batman strode off.

Jay avoided turning towards Flash, not wanting to face the awkward silence. She took her sweet time about turning. Flash just seemed to be waiting patiently. Just about the point where she could no longer avoid looking up directly at him, she was saved!

"Jay. Your first assignment." J'onn's voice sounded in the earphone Jay had been issued with. "Transport to Metropolis."

With mixed relief, excitement and anxiety, Jay flashed a sheepish smile at Flash and rushed off towards the transporter platform.


End file.
